So, what IS the Kingston Award?

Whilst leaving university with a good degree is the key objective for most students, it shouldn't necessarily be the only one. Often, employers want to see you make the most of your time at university outside of just academic achievement, whether that's through helping out with running societies, volunteering with local organisations or playing a role in a university sports team.

The Kingston Award shows employers both your engagement with the university and the transferable skills you’ve acquired by taking part in certain activities, whether that’s getting involved with the Big Read, attending KUextra events or learning a new language with the Kingston Language Scheme. You can even log activities outside of Kingston, as long as you’re doing them whilst studying e.g. part-time work or volunteering with external charities. Most of the activities required aren’t necessarily hard to complete: in fact, whilst at Kingston you’ll probably be taking part in some without even noticing!

The award focuses on developing six main attributes: professionalism, proactivity, thoughtfulness, creativity, resilience and demonstrating global awareness. These can show up in many different forms, from showing open-mindedness and empathy to knowing how to resolve conflicts and negotiate peacefully with others. After attending an activity, you can submit a reflection of the skills you’ve gained from it on Kingston University’s Career Zone, which will keep track of your progress as you move towards completing the award. If you’re a second or third year student at Kingston, you can include activities you’ve completed in previous years, so it’s never too late to start. 😊

The Kingston Award has three levels: the Bronze Award, the Silver Award and the Gold Award. Throughout your time at university, you can build towards improving the level of award by submitting more skills reflections; for example, the Bronze Award requires two reflections per attribute (or 12 in total), whilst the Gold requires four reflections per attribute (or 24 in total). No matter what level you achieve, however, the Kingston Award will show up on your Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) for future employers to see and could provide a useful talking point at job interviews!

Personally, I really recommend signing up to take part in the Kingston Award as soon as possible. It’s inevitable that you’re going to take part in some activities outside of your studies - even if that’s just joining a society or attending a job fair – so why not get rewarded for them?

As always, if you have any questions, just pop them down below. :biggrin: